Podcasts about forethought

Most AI chatbots are built to answer FAQs—but that only solves a fraction of the problem. According to Deon Nicholas, founder of Forethought, just 23% of support inquiries are informational. The other 77% require action—like account lookups, password resets, and policy decisions. That's where most GenAI tools fall short—and where agentic AI steps in. On the latest episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, recorded live at the Qualtrics X4 Summit, Deon and I go rapid-fire on the future of AI in CX and EX. We cover: ✅ Why most chatbots can't handle the majority of real-world support needs ✅ What agentic AI is—and why it's reshaping customer experience ✅ How to personalize at scale without compromising trust ✅ What proactive AI looks like—and why it's the next evolution If you're serious about using AI to drive real CX results, this episode is packed with insight you can't afford to miss.

Rose Wang is the COO of Bluesky Social, bringing a wealth of experience in tech, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. Previously, she was Head of Customer Experience at AI platform Forethought and the CEO/co-founder of Chirps, a sustainable cricket protein food company. On The Menu:1. Builds a new social web where no single entity controls content decisions.2. Ensures seamless user experience despite rapid expansion through robust infrastructure.3. Implements proactive moderation tools to enhance online security.4. Uses content filtering and unique post-quoting mechanisms to reduce toxicity.5. Encourages organic social interactions instead of algorithm-driven echo chambers.6. Focuses on user experience over advertiser demands, reshaping the digital landscape.Click here for a free trial: https://bit.ly/495qC9UFollow us on social media to hear from us more -Facebook- https://bit.ly/3ZYLiewInstagram- https://bit.ly/3UsdrtfLinkedin- https://bit.ly/43pdmdUTwitter- https://bit.ly/43qPvKXPinterest- https://bit.ly/3KOOa9uHappy creating!#RoseWang #BlueSky #Outgrow #SocialMedia #Marketing #Digitization #MarketerOfTheMonth #Podcastoftheday #Marketingpodcast

Forethought[1] is a new AI macrostrategy research group cofounded by Max Dalton, Will MacAskill, Tom Davidson, and Amrit Sidhu-Brar. We are trying to figure out how to navigate the (potentially rapid) transition to a world with superintelligent AI systems. We aim to tackle the most important questions we can find, unrestricted by the current Overton window. More details on our website. Why we exist We think that AGI might come soon (say, modal timelines to mostly-automated AI R&D in the next 2-8 years), and might significantly accelerate technological progress, leading to many different challenges. We don't yet have a good understanding of what this change might look like or how to navigate it. Society is not prepared. Moreover, we want the world to not just avoid catastrophe: we want to reach a really great future. We think about what this might be like (incorporating [...] ---Outline:(00:34) Why we exist(01:57) Research(02:00) Research agendas(03:13) Recent work(03:34) Approach(03:37) Comparison to other efforts(04:14) Principles(05:35) What you can do(05:39) Engage with our research(06:08) Apply to work with us(06:25) FundingThe original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: March 11th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/6JnTAifyqz245Kv7S/forethought-a-new-ai-macrostrategy-group --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Being out in cold temperatures is often necessary. But, there are a few things you can do to improve your comfort and safety. We cover how to layer your clothes, travel safely, and how to help livestock stay warm and healthy in low temperatures. 

#panchatantra #india #saga In the first story, we learn why it is bad to talk with your mouth full. And in the second story we learn why it is best to plan ahead or at least fake it, lest you be beaten. Source: ⁠Panchatantra Arthur W Ryder⁠ Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Music: ⁠Amith Nadig - Carnatic Flute - Bilahari Raga Sound Effects: Down Chaweng by Dustin Steichmann Photo Credit: "Myrtle the Turtle" by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent) is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Happy Valentine's Day y'all

Brain Hurt Scale = 3/10 - Do you need your advertising to be emotional in order for it to work? Ken Roberts has spent decades researching this with colleagues and is one of the world's authorities on this topic. In this wide-ranging interview we separate fact from fiction about everything from brand tracking, to the creative process, market-share drivers, advertising pre-testing vendors, famous marketing personalities and everything else in between. And Ken doesn't disappoint. Refuting much of the common wisdom and offering contrarian points of view supported by the practical commercially-focused research he's been personally involved with. Discover which voices you should be listening to and which you probably shouldn't if you're focused on high-value financial outcomes with your marketing expenditure. Or you could continue listening to the populist narratives of famous commentators. The choice is yours. _____ Links and recommended further reading mentioned in this episode. Ken Roberts https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-roberts-789b222/ ForeThought - https://www.forethought.com.au/ BrandComms - https://www.brandcomms.ai/ Bendigo Better Bank TVC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx0UkhlcJCM Kmart Australia 1000 Mum's TVC - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnHg_RcsWck Brand Health Tracking Course - https://app.vexpower.com/sim/how-to-measure-and-track-brand-accurately-without-a-vendor-filtered-lens/ The Folly of the ‘The Long and the Short of It' https://www.greenbook.org/insights/gain-retain/the-folly-of-the-the-long-and-the-short-of-it Emotion: the Mandatory of Marketing – Part One: Behavior https://www.greenbook.org/insights/gain-retain/emotion-the-mandatory-of-marketing-8211-part-one-behavior Emotion: the Mandatory of Marketing – Part Two: Measurement https://www.greenbook.org/insights/gain-retain/emotion-the-mandatory-of-marketing-8211-part-two-measurement Emotion: the Mandatory of Marketing Part Three: Application https://www.greenbook.org/insights/gain-retain/emotion-the-mandatory-of-marketing-part-three-application

Who is Suzanne?Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano is an accomplished leader specializing in guiding organizations within highly regulated and complex industries. With a focus on efficiently managing numerous initiatives, projects, and products, Suzanne excels in promoting services and ensuring their successful execution. Recognizing the challenges posed by limited internal resources, she adeptly maintains organization and drives progress by seamlessly developing and executing both internal and external communications. Her strategic approach and expertise enable leaders to stay on a growth trajectory, hit milestones, and achieve their goals effectively.Key Takeaways00:00 Forethought aids leaders in complex, regulated industries.06:14 Overcoming fear of new initiatives in teams.09:08 Critical free offer differentiates key marketing messages.10:39 Request "magic coffee" session via email now.14:13 Forethought doubled revenue in under 2 yearsFREE MAGIC hour for two senior Executives by emailing (Subject : MAGIC Hour) to info@forethoughtmarketing.com_________________________________________________________________________________________________Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletterFind out more about being a guest at : link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/beaguestSubscribe to the podcast at https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/podcastHelp us get this podcast in front of as many people as possible. Leave a nice five-star review at apple podcasts : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/apple-podcasts and on YouTube : https://link.thecompleteapproach.co.uk/Itsnotrocketscienceatyt!Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way————————————————————————————————————————————-TranscriptNote, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)SUMMARY KEYWORDSMagic Hours, regulated industries, marketing strategy, CEO, compliance, legal, healthcare, financial industries, education, internal communications, external communications, growth trajectory, customer support, patient caregivers, new product launch, communication strategy, target audience, operational issues, communication experts, business leaders, scalable business, virtual company, communication challenges, systems and processes, entrepreneurial operating system (EOS), business growth strategy.SPEAKERSJeff Standridge, Stuart WebbStuart Webb [00:00:30]:Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science, 5 questions over coffee. Really glad today that I'm joined by and I'm gonna get this wrong, Suzanne, so apologies. It's it's a tongue twister. Suzanne, Sarsfield Scurano. Did I get it right?Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:00:46]:Correct. Thank you, Stewart.Stuart Webb [00:00:48]:First problem solved. Let's let's not do that one again because I should get it wrong next time. But Suzanne is the president and CEO of Forethought Marketing. I'm really excited to have Suzanne here today. She's already just warned me that she's bouncing off the walls with coffee already. I've had some I've had some coffee. So we are gonna have a great time. We're gonna talk about, marketing and how things like magic hours can help you.Stuart Webb [00:01:13]:So, Suzanne, welcome to the podcast. Really looking forward to our conversation, and thank you for spending some time with us.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:01:20]:Thank you for having me. I'm excited to share and and learn from you as well, Stuart.Stuart Webb [00:01:25]:Oh, well, we we try our best. We try that. So, Susan, just let's start by sort of talking about the sort of customer that you you're trying to help. You know, what is the the problem that they've got and how are you sort of addressing that with them?Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:01:40]:So at forethought, we're perfectly aligned for leaders in primarily highly regulated and highly complex industries Because these individuals, you often have a plethora of initiatives and projects, products to promote and services to put out there, and keeping all of them on task and ensuring that there are efficiencies can often be one of the challenges. Sometimes there are insufficient resources internally to handle everything that's going on that they're on this growth trajectory for. Maintaining all of the tasks in an organized fashion in order to hit milestones and move forward is a big one. And at the end of the day, it really comes down to seamlessly developing and executing on both internal and external communications.Stuart Webb [00:02:41]:Yeah. And it regulated industries are tough, aren't they? I've done some work with regulated industries and, you know, you can't just say anything you want. Marketing has to be a very controlled and very tightly thought through strategy. You just can't launch into just anything, and that often provides a lot of constraints, but also it adds in many more wheels of sort of, you know, admin before you can actually start doing the marketing that the CEO is often desperate to get out there.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:03:10]:Exactly. We we really pride ourselves on playing well in the sandbox, not just with marketing teams, but with compliance, legal. You know, there's there are many nuances when you're working in health care and financial industries that education where you really wanna make sure that you're doing everything accurately and correctly according to the different regulations out there.Stuart Webb [00:03:33]:Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So what have you found, Suzanne? Because, obviously, you know, being the expert and being the sort of person that sort of is helping with this. What have you found those leaders have been trying to do and have sort of found themselves unable to execute? And and and where do you sort of really differentiate what you do to help them?Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:03:52]:Thank you. First of all, one of the mistakes I see is not prioritizing communications early on. Yeah.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:04:01]:You know,Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:04:01]:as we talked about with compliance, if they're, establishing a new entity within an organization or they're launching a new product, everybody's focused on a lot of the operational issues and thinks, oh, well, we're not ready to communicate just yet. The problem with that is we don't just throw something out there. Right? There's some quite a bit of planning. There's quite a bit of strategy. Having us in those communication early on really supports us in understanding the nuances of what this is gonna be operationally. It helps us understand how customer support or patient, you know, caregivers will be affected by this. The other thing that oftentimes I find leaders lose sight of is stretching our teams too thin. Right? This is new, and there probably are funds allocated for it, but we've got great resources in house, and we have people who understand what we're trying to accomplish, but they may not necessarily be communication experts.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:05:00]:And they may have a lot on their plate already. So we're really stretching them thin. The third thing I find is focusing only on external. Oh, well, when this is up and running, you know, we'll look for the students or we'll let all the clients know. What about our internal teams? It's very important to maintain internal communication in order for our teams to galvanize behind these really imperative initiatives and new business, you know, revenue generators. So how do we include the internal team for communication is critical to the success. And last but certainly not least, probably most importantly, is the idea of not aligning and listening to the point of view of multiple departments. So when an organization is about to embark on a very important new initiative, they may seek the advice of a small group.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:05:56]:It's critical to understand that everybody or various different departments leaders will have points of view that are relevant. And although differing, it's important that we all align on what is the end goal here, and that's where our magic sessions come in. AndStuart Webb [00:06:14]:I'm I'm gonna come back to the magic session in just a minute, but you sparked a whole load of thoughts. I just wanna sort of a very interesting you know, one of the things that I've seen in the past, and as I've done I've done work within regulated industries, you know, teams are often so focused, on business as usual if you like. They're focused on the thing, the initiatives that are already going that when you come along and say there's new initiative, they're almost afraid. They almost don't wanna take it because it's one of those well, as you say, it's it's new. It's something which we haven't done before or this one is gonna be different, and we've got a lot that we wanna avoid. So how do you help them to overcome that sort of, you know, the fear of the unknown, the fear of the new, and push them into that space where where they need to sort of grasp this and take it then once they've got it rolling back into the the the the the the the the new business as usual sort of flow.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:07:06]:That is a great question. You really teed me up perfectly here, Stuart. I love it.Stuart Webb [00:07:12]:We try our best. We really do.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:07:16]:So you're right. A lot of there could be pushback, There could be concerns. There could be just the regular. I've got too many other things to do here. So we like to do is listen. We believe at forethought that 50% of communication is listening. And if we don't take the time upfront on initiative to bring in the appropriate team members and have a session where we can explore and, discuss that which is of fear to them, how can we overcome it? And, I I share this one story. I remember when I first launched forethought about 15 years ago, I was at a health care system, and I had various people in the room.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:07:59]:Amongst them was the CFO and the director of physician relations. Right? So I asked the question about this. We were about to launch a clinically integrated network. And when I asked the question, who is our target audience? Simultaneously, the CFO said the patients, and the director of physician relations said the the physicians. So I said, okay. Great. Let's talk about this. And, clearly, they were both right.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:08:26]:It was a matter of having a conversation together as a team, identifying how we were gonna prioritize these audiences, what the key messages were for them. Right? Had we not had that session and I just came with one specific communication strategy for one of those target audiences, it would have been a failure. So it is important that we overcome these fears, that we share, that we listen, and that we respect everybody's point of view because everybody is bringing something to the table contingent on their roles and responsibilities in the organization. And that that really is key to to this is having a safe space where everybody feels comfortable sharing, chatting, and bringing it up.Stuart Webb [00:09:08]:I love it. I love it. And and I think that really does bring us into the next thing, which is I think you've got a really critical, valuable free offer that you'd like to sort of put out. And I think this is a really good one because for me, you've just given a great illustration, and I've been involved in something like it where I did something with with a with a a supplier of of health care products in this country. And exactly the same thing came up, which is where one person was saying we're talking to the health care providers and one person saying we're focused on the customers, the the end the end clients, the patients. And the and the problem is you need 2 different marketing messages. You need 2 different thing. And it's doing some something like what you're about to tell us about that actually sort of gets you to the point where you recognize that.Stuart Webb [00:09:53]:So tell us about your valuable free offer.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:09:57]:Thank you so much, and thank you for this platform. I think it's important for leaders to share and for us to understand the nuances of each other's businesses so that we can move forward. I've heard some of your other guests' offers, and I love them. So I went out on a limb and I said, we're gonna do a free magic hour. At forethought, when we believe that there is an opportunity for someone to learn and really have a takeaway of what it is that we do, we dedicate 1 hour with only 2 leaders. Right? So often a magic session will involve multiple leaders. And magic is actually an acronym. It stands for marketing alignment, goal implementing collaboration.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:10:33]:That's what it's all about.Stuart Webb [00:10:34]:I want you to put that in uppercase letters, shouldn't I? You'll correct that on the on the notes.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:10:39]:So for your listeners today and leaders out there, if you send us a message at info info at forethoughtmarketing.com, and in the subject, put magic coffee. We would like to know the leader's name, the business URL, so we have some familiarity what industry we're talking about, and a phone number so we can reach out and schedule a magic hour for you. We have several to choose from, so we would have a preliminary conversation to understand what the needs are, whether it is, coming up with more actionable core values, or perhaps you're looking at identifying a sales process, or maybe it is, a little bit more. We would just identify which one fits best your needs and provide you with a magic hour. So if you type in magic coffee in the subject, send us an email with the leader name, business URL, and phone number. We will get that scheduled for you.Stuart Webb [00:11:37]:I will ensure that that is all in the notes so that if anybody hasn't managed to type all of that and write all that down, they will get access to that in the notes. So just to repeat, that is magic coffee to info at forethoughtmarketing.com, and you're just looking for the URL, the name of the, business leaders, and that's 2, I think you've just said. 22 leaders.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:11:57]:Maximum of 2 leaders, and it would be for 1 hour.Stuart Webb [00:12:00]:Mhmm. And 1 hour, and, that's a pretty valuable offer for 2 leaders to get clarity in an hour about what they've tried to do with that. That's that's incredibly valuable. And and thank you, Suzanne, for doing that. So let's just understand a little bit more. Is there a particular book or a course? When you said that you set forethought up 15 years ago, was there something which led you to this? What was the what was the driving force that sort of took you to this?Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:12:26]:That's a great question. So it's a two part answer, I guess. Back in the day, I worked at aSuzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:12:33]:traditional is it okay? Do we have a little bit of time? Those who know me know I didn't talk for aStuart Webb [00:12:38]:for a while. What have you got?Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:12:42]:So, I started my career at a traditional advertising agency. That is to say, 28 years ago, right, prior to the digital, the .coms, all this excitement. It was very traditional, and I loved what I did. I love communication. I love meeting with clients. I felt that there was a better way of doing things. And I had this vision where we can sit in a room and have leaders discuss the target audience, who they see themselves as, what benefit they will provide their target audience, and what features do they have to truly collab corroborate those benefits. Right? And that was sort of the beginning of, I see this and I see it differently.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:13:27]:Also, forethought launched as a 100% virtual company in 2009. So I saw the future with a little crystal ball. I said, you know, I feel there's a better way. I shouldn't have to be tethered to a desk and fight traffic and go all the way to this office when I can work from anywhere. I'm going to embrace technology and work from home, have team members who can work from anywhere. Because especially in the creative space, I believe that great ideas don't necessarily come from an office chair or a boardroom. They might might come from a beach chair or a family room. And so since 2009, we had that, and it it was it was just really exciting and different and provided a great space for team members to be truly happy with what they do.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:14:13]:But when you asked me about what is most impactful, so when I launched back in 2009, we were in business for about 12 years, and things were going good. But then, of course, it was after the pandemic, and I said, gosh, my clients are in health care, education, and financial services. We didn't have to pivot. What am I doing right here? What's next? And how can I make the business even more, scalable? So we embarked on EOS. I'm hoping that many of your listeners know about the entrepreneurial operating system that Gino Wickman developed so many years ago, and that made a tremendous impact. Why? Because we were always so focused on our clients and doing such great work for them that we didn't have the systems and the processes in place to take us more scalable. And in less than 2 years, we doubled our revenue with EOS. So it was real it made a huge impact, and we we live and breathe EOS at forethought.Stuart Webb [00:15:12]:Wow. And I do wish more companies like you took on board that message of the fact that it's it's systems processes that actually allow you the time to turn your good work into great work and take you double because I'm working with a number of organizations now that really haven't got that message yet. We're try I'm trying to get to to that message. So I shall have to introduce them more to somebody who's been through the journey of getting processes. Susan, this has been really valuable, and and I and I don't I don't want to sort of miss a great opportunity to get a great question, in. But the trouble is I don't have the last great question. You have the last great question. So I'm gonna turn it over to you.Stuart Webb [00:15:53]:I'm gonna get you to do even more work. What's the question that I should have asked you, which I have now failed to do? And, obviously, once you've asked some question, you need to answer it for us.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:16:05]:Well, I wanna thank you for that question because I think it is very, generous of you and wise, and I appreciate that. What I did in preparation for our show today, I saw that the mission of it's not rocket science is to bring a new idea for building business to growth hungry business leaders and owners who wanna double their profits in under a year.Stuart Webb [00:16:26]:Yeah.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:16:27]:That is a mission. And I did some introspection for myself, and I was like, what did it really take? I think that's a good question to know from someone who's been able to do it. Maybe it wasn't in under a year, but it it's been substantially short in my opinion. And the big takeaway for me was grit. Right? I love that word. It's all about passion and perseverance. And I believe that business owners and leaders, we face so many challenges that it's important for us to have this unyielding courage and this firmness of mind and spirit to get us through those challenging times. For me, I have 5 things that I focus on regularly that I feel your listeners might benefit from.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:17:20]:And the first is limit your negative thoughts and language. Okay? There are words that never come out of my mouth. You would never hear me say something like we can't afford that. Right? I would change and flip that to maybe that'll be in the future. We'll look at this at another time. I'd love to do it. Now is not right. Right? Just just change that psychology in your mind.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:17:41]:Never use anything that's negative. Number 2, stretch your comfort zone. Right? Like our our personal trainers tell us this all the time and we're like, oh no, how much further can we go? But if we get out of our comfort zone, learn a new skill or or a new read a book that you might be something that you're not sure about. Speak with somebody who's taken a lesson that's outside of your industry. Maybe just to, to kind of stretch it. Number 3, take care of yourself. I cannot stress this enough. You know, people burn out so easily.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:18:15]:Like what, what brings you joy? Is it yoga? Is it dancing? Is it gardening? Is it motorcycle riding? Whatever it might be, make sure you are putting yourself first. You cannot help others if you don't put that oxygen mask on you. So take care of yourself, whatever that looks like, nutrition, going to doctor's appointments, getting rest, going to bed early, shutting down the computer, whatever that might be. The 4th one is practice mindfulness.Stuart Webb [00:18:42]:Mhmm.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:18:42]:I meditate every day. You know, being present. When you practice your mindfulness, it supports you for when those unexpected challenges arise. And I can't tell you how valuable it is to have that peace within yourself. And last but not least, as the leader, you are a your people are like a mirror with you. So cultivate hope. Be optimistic. No matter what the situation and we've all been there.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:19:14]:Right? We've all had situations that were very challenging in the career, in the business. But as the leader, it is your most valuable tool with your team to be hopeful, optimistic, and positive to inspire them for the future. You should believe in your soul that you can do it, and you will be able to do it. And those are my my five tips for my grit that has gotten me through the last 15 years.Stuart Webb [00:19:37]:Wow. Fantastic. I and, Susan, I don't know how to finish after those 5 fabulous fabulous messages. In fact, I almost feel bad to start to say what I'm gonna say, but thank you for for bringing bringing such brilliance to that. Listen.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:19:57]:I'm I'm I'mStuart Webb [00:19:58]:I am just gonna just say we have such fantastic guests with such brilliance. I don't know that I can I can top it? If you want to hear more from people like Suzanne, you need to be on our newsletter distribution because then I send you an email, and I tell you who's coming up. And you can get on, and you can watch us live on LinkedIn, and you can comment on this and learn from this. And, to do that, go to this email, which is to go to this website, which is at link.thecompleteapproach.co.ukforward/newsletter. It's a simple form. Fill it out. You will get an email, and you will know about the brilliance that you can hear from people like Suzanne and participate and ask questions and get the sort of wisdom that Suzanne brought to us. Suzanne, I'm a blown away.Stuart Webb [00:20:47]:Thank you so much for those questions. Thank you for everything you've said in the last 5, 5, 10 minutes. It's been it's been so good to hear from you and to hear about what you're doing with forethought, and I really look forward to seeing how it's gonna grow.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:21:01]:Thank you. And, Stuart, thank you for your show. I know it's a lot of work. You're so organized. You've got a great team. I appreciate how smooth it's been. It was really a joy, and thank you for providing this to the community, the business community. We need it.Stuart Webb [00:21:14]:Thank you so much, and we'll see you again soon.Suzanne Sarsfield Scarano [00:21:17]:Yes. Bye. Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at thecompleteapproach.substack.com/subscribe

In the deepest, oldest caverns of human memory, a fire burns... and that fire has been with human beings since the very beginning. Scientists now say that the human relationship with fire goes back over 1.5 million years. And so — fire has played a profound role in shaping human bodies and human consciousness in ways we're often unaware of. For fire... changed everything. It took us out of the immediacy of the animal experience and gave us a focal point, a place to gather and tell stories, to ideate, and to dream. And because fire created for us a perpetual hearth in the midst of shifting seasons, fire also gives us the ability to pause and plan ahead. Forethought, in many traditions, is a gift of fire, as is ritual. Our ancestors recognized the universe itself as lit by a great cosmic fire and recognized that same fire present within themselves. So ritual practice — often centered around fire — reflects and enacts the transformative friction of the cosmos. And practitioners heat themselves through repetitive dance, drumming, rattling, singing in order to participate in a primal alchemy, a transformative process that is not possible without the heat of fire. The spiritual promise of fire is in the transformation it brings, in how it burns away dross and reduces old patterns to ashes and regenerates us anew. Yet fire has another side too. The very thing that warms and nourishes us, that cooks our food and provides the spark for our ideas can also... burn us.  In dozens upon dozens of cultures, fire is brought to human beings by a trickster, and the gift of fire has consequences too. For, poorly tended, fire can burn out of control. Today, in a world inflamed, a world of conflict driven by obsessive hungers and enacted through incendiary discourse and weapons of fire, we can see clearly that there is a fire imbalance on planet earth. What is called for in such times? Perhaps a return to the old gods and goddesses of the hearth, and a lot of time spent learning what it means to properly tend the fire. Featuring incandescent music by Travis Puntarelli and Victor Sakshin, listen to this episode on a good sound system and perhaps while staring into the hottest part of a roaring fire.Support the show

TLDR: I've recently started as a “Research Fellow” at Forethought (focusing on how we should prepare for a potential period of explosive growth and related questions). I left my role on the CEA Online Team, but I still love the Forum (and the Forum/CEA/mod teams) and plan on continuing to be quite active here. I'm also staying on the moderation team as an advisor. ➡️ If you were planning on reaching out to me about something Forum- or Online-related, you should probably reach out to Toby Tremlett or email forum@effectivealtruism.org. What's in this post? I had some trouble writing this announcement; I felt like I should post something, but didn't know what to include or how to organize the post. In the end, I decided to write down and share assorted reflections on my time at CEA, and not really worry about putting everything into a cohesive frame or [...] ---Outline:(00:44) What's in this post?(02:17) Briefly: more context on the change(03:45) A note on EA and CEA(04:32) Assorted notes from my time at CEA(04:37) Some things about working at CEA that I probably wouldn't have predicted(04:44) 1. Working with a manager and working in a team have been some of the best ways for me to grow.(05:33) 2. I like CEA's team values and principles a lot more than I expected to. (And I want to import many of them wherever I go.)(08:39) 3. A huge number of people I worked and interacted with are incredibly generous and compassionate, and this makes a big difference.(10:40) Some things about my work at CEA that were difficult for me(10:46) 1. My work was pretty public. This has some benefits, and also some real downsides.(12:31) 2. Many people seem confused about what CEA does, and seemed to assume incorrect things about me because I was a CEA staff member.(14:58) 3. My job involved working on or maintaining many different projects, which made it difficult for me to focus on any single thing or make progress on proactive projects.(16:03) 4. Despite taking little of my time, moderation was quite draining for me.(18:26) Looking back on my work(23:08) Thank you!The original text contained 11 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: October 3rd, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/SPZv8ygwSPtkzo7ta/announcing-my-departure-from-cea-and-sharing-assorted-notes --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Feedback, Filing Systems, Flexibility, Follow-Up, Financial Organization, Frameworks, Failure, Future Planning, Forage for systems that work, Freedom, Fretting, Forgetting, Forethought, Fresh, Focus, Flow... Continue reading →

What are the essential principles of grand strategy needed to become a master of forethought? Why is it important for a grand strategist to be perceived as cold and detached? How can the tendency to become drunk on victory be detrimental to a grand strategist's success? Why is flexibility considered the greatest strength in achieving long-term strategic goals?In this episode, we will explore the four fundamental principles of grand strategy that are crucial for mastering the art of forethought. We will discuss why it is important for grand strategists to be seen as cold and detached, and the potential pitfalls of becoming overly celebratory after a victory..Hope you enjoy and if you like my content, drop me a follow and find me on Instagram @stoicspirituality, Tiktok @stoicspirituality, and Youtube @stoicspiritualityFind my other podcast episodes and platforms here: https://rss.com/podcasts/stoicspirituality/If you would like one-on-one mindset coaching, schedule a sample session with me:https://calendly.com/stoicspiritualitylifecoaching/sample-session?month=2023-04

How can authors overcome distractions and master the art of focus to boost their productivity?This week's guest expert is Nir Eyal, a renowned expert in the psychology of technology and business. Nir is the best-selling author of "Hooked" and "Indistractable."  In this episode, Nir shares invaluable insights on creating habit-forming products and managing distractions.Discover strategies to take control of your attention, stay focused on your writing goals, and ultimately boost your book's successful creation and marketing. Learn to balance creativity and productivity by addressing the emotional discomfort that often leads to distractions.Key Takeaways:Mastering Internal Triggers: Understand how internal emotional triggers can lead to distractions and discover effective ways to manage themMaking Time for Traction: Learn the importance of scheduling focused writing sessions instead of waiting for inspiration, ensuring consistent progress on your book.Using Pre-Commitment Devices: Explore practical tips to avoid distractions and stay on task.Forethought as an Antidote: Plan ahead to overcome distractions to stay productive in your writing journey.Value-Driven Scheduling: Discover how to align your schedule with your core values for more fulfilling and productive writing sessions.Don't miss out on Nir's wisdom to transform your productivity! Listen now and take the first step towards becoming indistractable.Get a copy of Nir's book "Indistractable"*************************************************************************Sponsored by Aviva Publishing. For over 30 years, we've dedicated ourselves to support nonfiction authors on their journey to publish andsell their books in bulk. Our mission is to empower you to establish yourself as a leading authority in a niche market. Learn my Top 5 Book Marketing Tips! Sign up for the “Book Marketing Kickstarter 5-Day Challenge”—it's free! ************************************************************************

In this must-watch episode, we sit down with Deon Nicholas, the visionary CEO and Co-Founder of Forethought AI, a trailblazer in generative AI technology for customer support automation. Discover the journey of Forethought AI from its inception to becoming a leader in leveraging AI to transform customer experiences. Deon shares insights into how Forethought AI is shaping the future of customer support, reducing ticket volumes by over 60% through automation, and enhancing productivity across support teams. He also dives into his personal journey, from his early days in tech to leading a company at the forefront of AI innovation, and offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. This show is supported by www.matchrelevant.com. A company that helps venture-backed Startups find the best people available in the market, who have the skills, experience, and desire to grow. With over a decade of experience in recruitment across multiple domains, they give people career options to choose from in their career journey.

When a child's unbridled energy collides with the foresight of a psychic, a martial arts master is born. Grandmaster Bobby Stone, head of the AAU, joins me to recount this unique beginning and delve into the depths of a life shaped by taekwondo. His narrative is not just about kicks and punches; it's a tale of personal evolution, leadership, and the indomitable spirit that drives one to build a community anchored in the values of the sport.We've all witnessed that triumphant moment when the underdog overcomes the odds—like that new white belt in the dojang smashing through their first board after countless tries. Bobby Stone embodies this perseverance and has translated it into a vision for the AAU that's as much about nurturing Olympic dreams as it is about fostering a sense of belonging. Our extensive conversation reveals the strategies to develop taekwondo from the grassroots level to the global stage while keeping the warmth of a family at its core. Stone's commitment to listening, learning, and leading sets a standard we all can aspire to, whether we're on the mat or in the boardroom.By the end of our journey through the episodes, you'll feel as if you've been part of an intimate gathering, where wisdom is shared not from a podium but from a place of shared passion. The legacy of Master Kim, the cherished lessons on balancing family with high-profile leadership roles, and the potential for taekwondo to captivate the mainstream audience—it all comes together in a narrative that's as impactful as it is enlightening. Grandmaster Stone's story is a testament to the power of martial arts to transform lives, and this podcast is your exclusive invitation to explore the extraordinary impact of one man's dedication to the sport he loves.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: CEA is hiring a Community Building Grants Associate (apply by 28 April), published by Naomi N on April 11, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. We're looking for an ambitious, engaging, and strategic professional to join our Groups team at the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) as a Community Building Grants (CBG) Associate. As a CBG Associate, you'll be a key player in increasing the impact of our CBG program and shaping how the city & national groups community ecosystem evolves. The program currently provides over $2.5 million / year in support to local EA directors and is funding >20 FTE in 14 different locations. Examples of these locations include NYC, DC, London, the Netherlands, Australia, and India. These groups have led to several exciting outcomes including: Introducing AI safety to somebody and this leading them to take a role as a technical safety staff at Anthropic. Counterfactually leading to several group members becoming researchers at Rethink Priorities. Preparing members to start effective charities through the Charity Entrepreneurship program, for example Lafiya Nigeria that focuses on contraception access for women in Nigeria. Helping people enter key policy roles, both in the fields of AI and Biosecurity. They report that without their group these positions would not have been on their radar and they would probably not have been able to start working in these fields. Working as a grantee was crucial for taking up longtermist roles, such as Chief of Staff at Forethought, or to found organisations like the Impact Academy. We have the ambition to significantly improve the program and believe that some of our biggest wins in the past have come from seeding and incubating new groups. We're eager to experiment more with this approach. Your responsibilities will include: Conducting practical research into what makes top-performing city and national EA groups excel, translating your findings into concrete program improvements. Developing and leading an incubation program to seed new EA groups in promising locations by recruiting talent, vetting candidates, and providing support. We have some uncertainty about the incubation program, so this responsibility might change. Offering additional support to our current CBG grantees and non-funded city & national groups, including assisting them with hiring. Supporting our team's overall program strategy, evaluation processes, and grant assessments. About the team: As part of CEA's Groups team, you will work closely with, and report directly to, Naomi Nederlof, the CBG Manager. The Groups team cares deeply about both improving the world and maintaining a positive working environment. Is this you? You might be a good fit if: You have deep familiarity with core EA ideas You're skilled at tackling complex, open-ended projects You're passionate about doing impactful work in EA community building You have strong interpersonal skills to build relationships with grantees and stakeholders You're adaptable to shifting priorities as our program evolves You're self-driven and able to own projects end-to-end Preferably, you have experience in community organizing and have knowledge of existing EA groups What we're offering: Full-time role, option for remote work in GMT-6 to GMT+7 timezones Potential visa sponsorship to join our team in the Oxford office Estimated total compensation range of $66,000 - $122,540 (including 10% 401k contribution) Benefits like health insurance, professional development funds, parental leave, and more Anticipated start between June - October 2024 Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org

Every business, YOUR business, operates in a critical, complicated, and threatening environment. Worries about where the next threat will come from adds stress and distracts from your day-to-day operations.   In this episode we look at essential and pragmatic ways to de-risk your business.  Forethought and planning can provide not just risk mitigation, but comprehensive paths to survive nearly any sudden change in your operating environment.   Essential for all businesses, we explore clear and concise actions you can take and turn into quick wins for your business. Deb Field Quick Win Coach, Business Boss, an Keep-it-Simple CEO Next Steps: Visit: https://quickwinsforbusiness.com/ Join our private Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/quickwinsforwomeninbusiness Blog Article: https://quickwinsforbusiness.com/ 009-9-easy-ways-to-disaster-proof-your-business/

In this empowering episode, Seth and Pete are joined by Beverly Price, founder of Her Empowered Divorce, to discuss how to overcome domestic abuse and take control of divorce proceedings. Beverly shares her personal story of persevering through multiple divorces and emerging stronger. She provides insights on effective communication, documenting abuse, and building a supportive team. This is an inspiring conversation about reclaiming your agency during a challenging time.Key TakeawaysCommunicate for results, not just to express yourself. Frame issues clearly and concisely.Create a divorce team including a coach, lawyer and financial advisor. Divvy up roles.Document abuse with specific facts and dates, not emotions. Paint a pattern over time.Questions We AnswerHow can you prep most effectively for that first lawyer meeting?What should you say when first telling your spouse you want divorce?How do you prove non-physical abuse like coercion?Plus, we tackle another listener question on changes in Florida divorce law!This empathetic episode provides encouragement and practical tools to help anyone facing a contentious split take control of their situation, reclaim their self-worth, and ultimately transition from victim to survivor. Beverly shares her own inspiring journey as well as expert tips to empower yourself and get results during divorce proceedings.Links & NotesFind Beverly and Her Empowered Divorce on the web, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubeHer Empowered Divorce PodcastGet Beverly's free ebook Comprehensive Divorce Checklist hereDivorce CoalitionSchedule a consult with SethGot a question you want to ask on the show? Click here! (00:00) - Welcome to How to Split a Toaster (02:00) - Meet Beverly Price (03:16) - Beverly's Backstory (05:42) - Types of Abuse (08:29) - ‘Have I Experience These Things' List (09:28) - Beverly's Own Signs (10:57) - Reading the Messages (14:08) - Helping Others (17:49) - Prepping for Your Attorney (25:54) - Forethought in Domestic Violence Situation (30:56) - The Divorce Coalition (41:42) - Reaching Out to Beverly (42:31) - Listener Question (49:33) - Wrap Up Establishing trust with Co-Parents can be difficult when alcohol abuse is involved. Use Soberlink as an opportunity to improve co-parenting arrangements. Visit their site to learn more and get a promo code for $50 off.

Please Rate and Review us on your podcast app of choice!Get involved with Data Mesh Understanding's free community roundtables and introductions: https://landing.datameshunderstanding.com/If you want to be a guest or give feedback (suggestions for topics, comments, etc.), please see hereEpisode list and links to all available episode transcripts here.Provided as a free resource by Data Mesh Understanding. Get in touch with Scott on LinkedIn.Transcript for this episode (link) provided by Starburst. You can download their Data Products for Dummies e-book (info-gated) here and their Data Mesh for Dummies e-book (info gated) here.Wendy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-turner-williams-8b66039/Culstrata website: https://www.culstrata-ai.com/TheAssociation.AI website: https://www.theassociation.ai/In this episode, Scott interviewed Wendy Turner-Williams, Managing Partner at both TheAssociation.AI and Culstrata and the former CDO of Tableau.TheAssociation.AI is "a global nonprofit business organization …focused on bridging the disciplines of AI, data, ethics, privacy, robotics, and security." It is focusing on things like networking and knowledge sharing to drive towards better outcomes including ethical AI.Some key takeaways/thoughts from Wendy's point of view:Right now, we try to break up the aspects of data into discrete disciplines - and then work on each completely separately - far too much. Privacy, security, compliance, performance, etc. Instead, we need to focus on the holistic picture of what we're trying to do and why.Communication is key to effective data work and driving value from data. Hire product managers and focus on the why. Break through the historical perceptions of data as a service organization. Drive to what matters - outcomes over outputs - and focus on delivering value."What's the point of being focused on the data if you don't understand the business that the data is supposed to be used for?"?Controversial?: "There is no transformation without automation." If you want data to play a part in transforming the business, you need to focus on automation. Data related work can't be toil work or most won't even do it."You will never be as successful as you can be as a data organization if you're not able to influence your IT partners, your product teams, your business teams."For far too many companies, data is just an afterthought. It's not the core around how they build out initiatives. When you...

Title: Intuitive Insights & Financial Forethought - Thursday, February 29, 2024Welcome to Cancer Daily Horoscope, the podcast that offers daily guidance and insights into the cosmic energies specifically aligning for those born under the sign of Cancer. In today's episode, we'll uncover what Thursday, February 29, 2024, has in store for you, with a special focus on finance and personal well-being.If you have questions or themes that you would like for us to address in the horoscope, please get in touch at cancer@pagepods.com.To stay up to date on the latest episodes and for show transcripts, subscribe to our newsletter at https://cancer.pagepods.com.

Episode 317 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Deon Nicholas, CEO & Co-Founder of Forethought. I was at a couple of networking events the other week and let's just say the word AI was brought up many, many times. Yes, we are in a major shift in terms of a tech platform, but doesn't it feel like some companies are forcing AI into their business model or solution… versus an organic solution. Well, this is not the case for Forethought where AI has been core to their platform since the beginning. Forethought is a leading Generative AI company providing customer service solutions that transform the customer experience. The company has raised over $92M in VC funding from top investors. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A discussion around AI and how it should be organically applied to a business and not forced. * Deon's background story including how he got involved in AI back in high school and getting his career started at Dropbox and Pure Storage. * The background story of Forethought and how they ended up pitching at and winning TechCrunch Disrupt. * How Forethought is disrupting the customer service industry and why AI as a solution makes sense. * The current state of the company and future outlook. * The importance of storytelling for raising capital, hiring, sales, etc. * And so much more.

ESTHER 7 Thanks to everyone who supports TMBH at patreon.com/thetmbhpodcast You're the reason we can all do this together! Discuss the episode here Opening song, "As the Crow Flies" from the album, "The Clamour and the Crash" by Jeff Foote

The Moon is Full in Aries on September 29,2023. Ka pow!  Self interest is natural now. Here is a chance to see how you really feel.  Brave, bold, certain.  Who couldn't use a smidge of that?  Remember, this is all going to be experienced from your point of view.  And there are as many perspectives as there are people. Wednesday, Chiron, the wounded healer,  also the healer within us, connects with Mercury. Wounds to your identity may be rising here. Humiliation, shame, guilt and misplaced blame are all likely to rise for your perusal.  Though this configuration ain't easy it is productive. What parts of the real you have you kept hidden away to gain approval or acceptance?  This is the part you need to feel.  What you feel you can heal.   With the Aries energy you may behave uncharacteristically self-assertive.  This is a double edged sword.  The energy is ripe for overdoing it.  You might  just blow your top in an inappropriate situation. Aries can tend to head off in their own direction without caring about What someone else might need or want. There is a rushing energy that can create missteps and accidents. Forethought is always a good idea but when Mars ruled Aries is in the mix instinct trumps consideration.  Be aware of this and you may be able to save yourself some embarrassment.   On the other hand, speaking your mind from your heart can heal you on deep inner levels.  Perhaps you need to share your feelings.  Maybe a sternly worded letter would help.  Your courage is significant and so are you. Tense energy between Venus and Uranus during this Full Moon can support our efforts to heal our relationships in unexpected ways, suddenly, out of the blue. Let love lead the way. It will lead you to more Love. Use this full moon energy to prepare for the next new moon with a solar eclipse in Libra: The eclipse opens the portal to change.  The next two weeks will clear the decks for the best version of your highest life to manifest. There is much energy available for you to step into your power and be who you came here to be. Godspeed.

Deon Nicholas, CEO and Co-Founder of Forethought, joins the show to discuss the details of AI's application in the B2B realm. His journey from solving complex problems through coding in the initial days to the current challenges in go-to-market strategies provides him with vital experience in the tech domain.Deon explores the evolution from automation to autonomy. While the world previously saw AI as a tool for streamlining processes and automating redundant tasks, Deon discusses the near future, where AI plays a proactive role. Think of it as an AI sidekick that can perform tasks like booking appointments without human intervention. He also sheds light on the significance of understanding and addressing the primary constraints businesses face. Every few months, these constraints change, and identifying them becomes pivotal to achieving exponential growth. Deon emphasizes the CEO's role in understanding these constraints, investing time in assembling the best team and consistently interacting with customers.He also provides a sneak peek into the offerings of Forethought, such as SupportGPT, which aims to redefine the customer service arena. Key Takeaways :[06:20] Deon emphasizes Forethought's core principle of using AI to help individuals to become more productive, especially in areas like customer support. [23:40] How initially focusing on automating repetitive queries and tasks allows businesses to gradually harness more advanced AI capabilities and solve complex problems. [27:55] Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Deon underscores the importance of resilience. [37:56] Previously, AI focused on automation tasks, but the future, according to Deon, is AI taking actions on one's behalf, introducing more autonomous functionalities. [36:45] Forethought has an eye on the future, and they've open-sourced a library to help others build autonomous agents. [37:24] Amidst technological advancements, CEOs and leaders should never lose sight of their customers. Spending quality time understanding and engaging with them is crucial for success. [39:45] Deon foresees a transition from systems of record to systems of intelligence or systems of autonomy, predicting this will be as transformative as the cloud was for businesses. Resources Mentioned:Deon Nicholas -https://www.linkedin.com/in/deon-nicholas/Forethought | LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/company/forethought-ai/Forethought's Official Website -https://www.forethought.ai/SupportGPT by Forethought -https://www.forethought.ai/supportgptThis episode is brought to you by Content Allies.Content Allies helps B2B tech companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. Build relationships that drive revenue through podcast networking. We schedule interviews with your ideal prospects and strategic partners so that you can build relationships and grow your business. You show up and have conversations, we handle everything else. Learn more at ContentAllies.com #B2B #BusinessLeaders #Leadership

We've seen a number of enterprise software companies making announcements related to generative AI in the last six weeks from established companies like Salesforce and Adobe to startups like Ada and Forethought. 

Dr. Gloria Mark on her 30+ year writing and academic career, the different attention states, how we can get into an artistic flow and why empty space is our days is important. Plus, we dive into her process of writing Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.*QUOTE:When you think about a Japanese garden you think of the beautiful rocks that are placed there. But it's the space around those rocks that are just as important and are as carefully considered as the rocks themselves. Consider empty space in your day to be as important as the work you're actually doing because it helps prepare you and enables you to really do this kind of deep work. *ABOUT DR GLORIA MARK Gloria Mark is Chancellor's Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology and studies the impact of digital media on people's lives. She takes a deep dive into examining multitasking, interruptions, and mood using digital devices. She has published over 200 articles and in 2017 was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy, which recognizes leaders in the field of human-computer interaction. She has presented her work at SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and her research has appeared in the popular media, e.g. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, The Guardian, the Dax Shepard show, the Dave Asprey show, and many others. She's the author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.*RESOURCESFollow Dr Gloria:Gloria's websiteGloria on Twitter @GloriaMark_PhDGloria's newsletterOther links mentioned:Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and ProductivityChronotypeMorningness Eveningness QuestionnaireFlow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Broaden-and-Build theoryYohaku no bi: The Beauty of Empty Space For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.comFor free writing sessions, join free Writers' Hours: writershour.com*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you're enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

Forethought has been building chatbots since 2017 with increasing levels of sophistication, intelligence and automation.

Manu Kumar, Founder and Chief Firestarter of K9 Ventures, talks about how he balances being an investor and a founder. He shares unique insights from his experience founding Carta, HiHello and his other startups, and lessons from his high-conviction type of investing.In this episode, you'll learn:[3:32] Why solo GPs prioritize deal quality over quantity, and best ways to catch their attention[9:08] Entrepreneurs need to have strong conviction in their idea and show that they will take the leap, leave everything else and start their company.[14:59] Carta's tough time raising capital; investors thought it was “essentially replacing spreadsheets”[19:07] Why recruiting a founder rarely worksAbout Guest SpeakerDr. Manu Kumar is the Founder and Chief Firestarter of K9 Ventures, Co-Founder and CEO at HiHello, and the Co-founder, Investor, and Board Observer at Carta. He's also a board member in several companies, including Everlaw, enuma, Nexkey, Bugsee, Traptic, Crave.io Inc., Avoma, Forethought Technologies, Workona Inc., HiHello, Invisible AI, and Daughters of Rosie. Manu is a self-confessed entrepreneur at heart. He started his first company (SneakerLabs, Inc.) at the age of 20 with $5,000 from a summer internship.About K9 VenturesK9 Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in concept-stage and seed-stage technology startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. K9 Ventures has made more than 74 investments. More than 25% of them are diversity investments. The firm's most notable exits include Lyft, Twilio, and Osmo. Companies in its current portfolio include Teleo, Invisible AI, Avoma, Forethought, Nexkey, Everlaw among others.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode. Follow Us:  Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook

On this episode, we talk with Deon Nicholas, CEO and Co-Founder of Forethought, a generative AI platform for customer support automation.Deon started his career as an engineer, building out products and infrastructure for companies like Facebook, Dropbox and Pure Storage. During that time, he was fascinated by the potential uses of AI technology in customer service, and in 2018 he took the leap and founded Forethought.The platform is customer-centric, with a focus on improving efficiency and experience. Customers prefer to have their problems solved through self-service these days, but when it gets elevated to talking to an agent, Forethought gives the agent as much information about the situation and possible solutions as possible.Deon believes that AI is in the most exciting place it has ever been, especially considering the media frenzy surrounding ChatGPT. The Forethought platform takes AI to the next level, letting customers customize the platform for their specific business needs.Forethought is a subscription business itself, and it is really leaning into building out new AI platforms specifically for subscription-based organizations. Ready to get started with Rebar?Head to rebartechnology.com or email info@rebartechnology.com to schedule a call today. #Saas #subscriptions #subscriptionbusiness #subscriptionservice

We've been talking about AI quite a bit lately, and for good reason: you guys are clearly interested in it. And there's been so much talk about ChatGPT, but one of the things that's crystal clear about AI is it has the power to transform so many things about our society, including the way consumers receive customer support. That's why I wanted to turn to the one, the only, Deon Nicholas.Deon is the CEO and co-founder of Forethought, the AI company whose mission is to transform customer experiences with human-centered AI. Forethought has raised over $100 million in venture capital, including from NEA, which led Forethought's $9.52 million Series A.As always, we welcome your feedback. Please make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play - and make sure to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn!

Joining me this week is Sam Lau.Sam is the Head of Sales Enablement at Forethought. He was a former bag carrier and is now an enabler of sales reps and sales organizations, and he's fast becoming an expert at peer-to-peer learning.He speaks at many of the leading industry conferences and has tons of interesting lived experience and earned wisdom around the topic of peer-to-peer learning.As many of you who are regular listeners will know, that's one of my favorite topics and something that we take a lot of pride in at Curious Lion.This was a very tactical episode, and I think if you take some notes, you'll be able to implement some of these ideas right away. It was very accessible, and it speaks to Sam's ability and understanding of these concepts. I really enjoyed this, and I know you will, too.Please sit back, relax, and enjoy my episode with Sam Lau.

Joining me this week is Sam Lau.Sam is the Head of Sales Enablement at Forethought. He was a former bag carrier and is now an enabler of sales reps and sales organizations, and he's fast becoming an expert at peer-to-peer learning. He speaks at many of the leading industry conferences and has tons of interesting lived experience and earned wisdom around the topic of peer-to-peer learning. In this "Rapid Fire 5" segment, I gather his first thoughts on five key questions related to learning and enablement. 

Our guest this week has a day job, but in this episode, we're not actually talking about that day job. We're going deep on something else: advising. Our guest, and the perfect person for this topic, is Jeff Ignacio, Head of Marketing and Sales Operations at Forethought.Today you'll learn about how he has leveraged his operations experience at companies like Google, Patient Pop, AWS, and Upkeep to build an impressive list of advising engagements. In our conversation, we talk about the content flywheel he built that led to his advising opportunities, the three types of advisory work he typically sees, and Jeff will tell you exactly what to ask for in exchange for your next advising engagement.Like this episode? Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review and share the pod with your friends! You can connect with Sean and Jeff on Twitter @Seany_Biz, @jeffignacio, and @DriftPodcasts.

Meet Jeff Ignacio, a respected Revenue Operations Leader in the early-staged SaaS space. Highly strategic and analytical, Jeff started off his career early on as a Business Analyst at Accenture. Worked his way up the ranks including Google and AWS. Currently servicing as the Head of Sales Operations at Forethought, he is an advisor for Scratchpad, Sonar, Everstage, Sonar and Webstacks. He is the host of The Revenue Architect Podcast and creator of the RevOps four pillars known as “PEAS” (Process, Enablement, Advisory, Systems). Key Takeaways: - [ ] What is RevOps? - [ ] Why is RevOps important? - [ ] How to RevOps? Bonus: The Architect Podcast Connect with Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffbethechange --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jtlieu/support

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: ETGP 2022: materials, feedback, and lessons for 2023, published by trammell on September 22, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. From August 20 to September 2, I ran a summer course in Oxford titled “Topics in Economic Theory and Global Prioritization”, or ETGP. It aimed to provide a rigorous introduction to a selection of topics in economic theory that appear especially relevant to the project of doing the most good. It was designed primarily for economics graduate students considering careers in global priorities research. The purpose of this post is to share the course materials as presented this year, the feedback, and a summary of the lessons learned. I hope it helps potential attendees get a better sense of whether they would like to attend next year, and potential organizers of similar programs get a better sense of whether and how to go about it. I've erred on the side of thoroughness regarding the feedback and lessons learned. A brief summary is that the course was rated very highly, and that I think this suggests people should consider organizing more structured courses, instead of sticking to the more common “EA formula” of reading groups and summer research fellowships. The course was sponsored by Forethought and made possible by operations support from the Global Priorities Institute. If you would like to be notified when applications open for next year, email me at philip.trammell@economics.ox.ac.uk. Course materials and program schedule The lecture slides and exercises, as presented this year (with corrections), can be found here. Feel free to use them for any purpose. The program was scheduled as follows: Saturday, August 20 - Sunday, August 21: two 1.5h lectures per day on philosophical and mathematical background material, respectively. Monday, August 22 - Friday, August 26: two 1.5h lectures per day on various EA-relevant macroeconomic theory topics. Saturday, August 27: (optional) punting in the afternoon. Monday, August 29 - Friday, September 2: two 1.5h lectures per day on various EA-relevant microeconomic theory topics. Attendees were given the option to stay for a (totally unstructured) third week to discuss research ideas with each other, schedule meetings with others in Oxford, and so on. The lectures, except for those on the first day, came with exercises. Every lecture-day except the first two (August 20-21) opened with a 1-hour session in which I went over previous lecture-day's exercises. They were not graded. Lectures and lunches were held at Trajan House, where GPI and Forethought are based. Breakfasts, dinners, and housing were held at Worcester College, Oxford, except for an opening dinner and a closing dinner, which were held at pubs. Applicant and attendee characteristics There were 179 applicants. 46 were accepted (26%), and 34 attended at least in part. Educational backgrounds of the attendees: 1 was an assistant professor of economics (3%) 16 were enrolled in, or about to begin, doctoral programs in economics (47%) 3 were enrolled in or about to begin master's programs in economics, or recent graduates of master's programs not doing either of the above (9%) 6 were doing pre-doctoral research / research assistance in economics (18%) 6 were undergraduates studying economics, or recent graduates not doing any of the above (18%) 2 had never pursued an economics degree (6%). (One had a graduate degree in a related field, and the other was pursuing one) Genders of the attendees: 29 were male (85%) 5 were female (15%) 45 of the applicants (25%) and 9 of the admits (20%) were female. I noticed the relative scarcity of female applicants when reviewing the applications, and I did my best to ensure that they were not rejected unfairly. Feedback The feedback survey received 24 responses (71%). Aggregate results are as follows: Overall eva...

Forethought founder, Deon Nicholas, talks about all things AI—the ethics of artificial intelligence, AGI, ANI and ASI, Singularity, the timeline for when AI reaches general intelligence, and whether the robots will ultimately kill us all. Get more on this episode by going to https://careynieuwhof.com/episode521.

https://www.stmarksbemidji.orghttps://gracelutheransc.wordpress.comContact us! john.kirk@stmarksbemidji.orgJoin in on the fellowship! calendar@stmarksbemidji.org (subscribe to our calendar here)Audio Podcast RSS (put into your Podcasting 2.0 app!): https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2027075.rssSubscribe to our podcast on Apple or Google for your phone:Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/33iXSxYGoogle Podcasts: https://bit.ly/34WY4TXFollow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter:https://www.facebook.com/stmarksbemidjihttps://www.instagram.com/smlcbemidji/Twitter: @StMarkPodcastAll Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Today we're going to talk about using Artificial Intelligence to improve the Customer Experience. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Deon Nicholas, Co-Founder and CEO, Forethought, and who previously built products and infrastructure at Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox.

Deon Nicholas, Forethought Co-Founder CEO, grew up in inner city Toronto stocking shelves in a pharmacy before learning to code at an early age. He started Forethought in 2017 after learning the value of answering customer questions working for companies like Facebook and Pure Storage. Deon has since raised $92M from an exceptional group of investors including funds like Steadfast Capital and NEA plus celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, and Robert Downey Jr. Deon won the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield startup competition in 2018 and is a member of the Forbes 30 under 30. He's also a mentor and advisor to founders of color. Listen and learn...How AI connects customers to the right agents then indicates the likelihood of a support interaction escalatingHow to use historical data to help live agents fix problems fasterThe evolution of chatbots from decision trees to AIHow to combine generic language models with domain-specific data to increase the accuracy of NLPHow to solve the problem of bias encoded in dataHow GANs, generative adversarial networks, workWhy ML pipelines need to be monitored like web appsReferences in this episode...ForethoughtDeon on TwitterForward, the Forethought customer eventKrishna Gade from Fiddler on AI and the Future of WorkMonotonic selective risk may solve the AI bias problem

​​There are many reasons we can't focus, from exhaustion and distractions to a lack of motivation. Whatever the cause, our inability to focus is a major drain on our productivity and lessens our chances of succeeding.    People are easily distracted in today's digital world. You can easily lose your train of thought with distractions like phones, social media notifications, unscheduled meetings, and kids or pets needing attention.   Reducing the amount of potential distractions can keep us from losing our train of thought. Taking short breaks throughout the day can help alleviate stress and prevent burnout.  Productivity is not something that happens by chance. Forethought planning and discipline are essential to accomplish everything you want and need to do.   Driven by his desire to understand what makes businesses thrive regardless of the market conditions, Robb Gilbear helped over 150 entrepreneurs and coaches. He founded Growth Habit to help business leaders unlock the potential within themselves.    In this episode, author and Growth Habit founder, Robb Gilbear, shares techniques that can help you zone in on the task in front of you, increase your productivity, and build unwavering confidence.    Join our hosts, wealth manager Lee Michael Murphy, career advisor Sergio Patterson and attorney Matthew McElroy. Tune in to The Free Retiree Show.    What you'll learn:  Proven ways to keep your focus  How to increase productivity  Effective steps to boost confidence  How to avoid distractions at work  

Using AI to Enable and Empower Customer Service Agents Shep Hyken interviews Deon Nicholas, CEO and Co-Founder of Forethought, a company that builds human-centered AI to transform the customer service experience. He shares how companies can use AI and technology to help customer support agents and customers find the best resolution.  Top Takeaways:    ·      A lot of people think that AI is all about deflecting customers away from support agents. However, AI is about solving the customer's problem by providing a self-service option, interacting with a bot, or getting that customer to a human.   ·      Human-centered AI is not just about resolving the issue. It is also about being able to recognize when the best thing to do is to get out of the way. Certain problems require human judgment and empathy. Human-centered AI is all about connecting and getting the customer to an agent in the right channel at the right time. ·      If you can take historical data, such as questions customers have asked in the past and issues they have called about, then you can build a knowledge base around this data that agents can use to help customers.   ·      Customers want speed and an easy experience, but that doesn't matter if they don't get the answer to their question or their problem resolved.     ·      Deon Nicholas also talks about the three elements that organizations must have to deliver the ultimate customer experience. Tune in! Quote:  "In amazing businesses, the most important thing to think about is our people. Everything that we have ever done in humanity has been about building technology by people, for people. Double down on your people, and you will see the dividends and the returns."   About:    Deon Nicholas is the CEO and Co-Founder of Forethought, the AI company whose mission is to transform customer experiences with human-centered AI. Before starting Forethought, Deon built products and infrastructure at Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox, and Pure Storage. Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey CX Nation,In this week's episode of The CXChronicles Podcast #175 we welcomed Deon Nicholas, CEO & Co-Founder at Forethought AI based in San Francisco, CA.Forethought AI is a Silicon Valley software company founded by a team of Dropbox, Palantir, and Autonomy alumni in 2017. Their mission is to unlock human potential through the power of AI.Forethought transforms the customer experience by infusing human-centered AI at each stage of the customer support journey. With Forethought, organizations can resolve common cases instantly, predict and prioritize tickets, and assist agents with relevant knowledge—all from one AI platform. In this episode, Deon and Adrian chat through how he has tackled The Four CX Pillars: Team,  Tools, Process & Feedback throughout his career + shares some of the tips & tricks that have worked for him across his customer focused business leader journey.**Episode #175 Highlight Reel:**1.  How AI can transform any company's customer experience  & customer success2.  Improving how you set priorities + understanding core activities that drive innovation3. Why customer expectations have changed forever & how your business can adapt 4. Embedding process into your business behaviors and team culture as you scale  5. Why customer & employee feedback needs to be the  catalyst for driving actionHuge thanks to Deon for coming on The CXChronicles Podcast and featuring his work and efforts in pushing the customer experience and customer success space into the future.Click here to learn more about Deon NicholasClick here to learn more about Forethought AI If you enjoy The CXChronicles Podcast, please stop by your favorite podcast player and leave us a review today. This is the easiest way that we can find new listeners, guests and future business leaders to join our customer focused community!And be sure to grab a copy of our book "The Four CX Pillars To Grow Your Business Now" available on Amazon +  check out the CXChronicles Youtube channel to see all of our customer focused business leader video content + our past podcast episodes!Reach out to CXC at INFO@cxchronicles.com for more information about how we can help your business make customer happiness a habit!Support the show

In a season of twists and turns every direction, we ended up with an all-time winner. We broke it down for you in our top ten points, each packed with extra clips.   Some highlights: We listen back to Marc's pre-game assessment of Maryanne. Dave took Omar's advice and googled an Amazon parrot. Josh describes what makes a good jury, and why bitter can sometimes be good. What players will return? Probably quite a few.  Finally: Dave makes a very bold prediction regarding the future of Survivor.   Make sure to subscribe so you catch our summer, in-between season episodes. Please leave a (good) review, wherever you listen to us!

#afterthought #forethought #thinking Thinking before or after, which works best for you? We have some ideas on this matter. Live Sundays @ 3PM EST https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw_CAqHW81X3dNX33w-okjQ https://www.youtube.com/c/nicckennedy https://antisocialexperience.com/ https://www.facebook.com/aseliveshow antisocialexp@gmail.com @NiccKennedy @just_shilling @grimmyminarchick Thank You Everyone, for your support ! Anti Social Experience podcast is Live streamed from and recorded at Slow Boat Studios.

Ryan O'Hara and Jon Mazza sit down to talk to Aaron Barkman, Enterprise Account Executive at ForeThought. Aaron talks with the team about how they find our priorities of their buying personas, doing discovery in the enterprise, and selling to Customer Success. To try out LeadIQ: https://leadiq.com/free?utm_campaign=podcast-listeners&utm_medium=display&utm_source=podcast or contact sales@leadiq.com

Teaching machines to think has long been a goal of computer scientists–but what if computers had their own logic? Forethought co-founder and CEO Deon Nicholas unpacks the future of artificial general intelligence.

MLOps Coffee Sessions #96 with Sebastián Ramírez, FastAPI for Machine Learning co-hosted by Adam Sroka. // Abstract Fast API almost never happened. Sebastián Ramírez, the creator of FastAPI, tried as hard as possible not to build something new. After many failed attempts at finding what he was looking for he decided to scratch his own itch and build a new product. The conversation goes over what Fast API is, how Sebastián built it, what the next big problems to tackle in ML are, and how to focus on adding value where you can. // Bio

It's Titan against trio as the God of Forethought matches wits with the Goddesses of Fate in round five.

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Deon Nicholas (@dojiboy9), CEO and Co-Founder of Forethought, the 2018 TechCrunch Disrupt winner that is transforming the customer experience by infusing human-centered AI at each stage of the customer support journey. With Forethought, organizations can resolve common cases instantly, predict and prioritize tickets, and assist agents with relevant knowledge—all from one AI platform. Founded by a team of Dropbox, Palantir, and Autonomy alumni in 2017, Forethought's mission is to unlock human potential through the power of AI. Website: ForethoughtLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/deon-nicholasTwitter: @dojiboy9Instagram: @dojiboy9Email: Deon@forethought.aiShow Notes: How Forethought is transforming the customer support experience Going from 20 to 140+ employees in 18 months Navigating extremely rapid growth while simultaneously empowering employees to do their best work How the pandemic-induced global shift to digital work affected Forethought How they manage their distributed team via 4 hubs How Forethought is impacting their stakeholders' daily lives with their human-centered AI platform What has made Forethought stand out in the industry The secret sauce of “true AI” Defining their ideal customer profile How Deon views the future of human-centered AI What has helped Deon navigate the challenges of being a founder and running a rapidly growing tech startup More about the show:The Vitalize Podcast, a show by Vitalize Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 300+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at Vitalize Venture Capital, The Vitalize Podcast includes two main series. The Angel Investing series features interviews with a variety of angel investors and VCs around the world. The goal? To help develop the next generation of amazing investors. The Future of Work series takes a look at the founders and investors shaping the new world of work, including insights from our team here at Vitalize Venture Capital. More about us:Vitalize Venture Capital was formed in 2017 as a $16M seed-stage venture fund and now includes both a fund as well as an angel investing community investing in the future of work. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.The Vitalize Team:Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVCCaroline - https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212Vitalize Angels, our angel investing community open to everyone:https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/

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